Moyenne Island - A Smaller-Scale Rewilding Paradise
The world's smallest national park is a smaller-scale rewilding paradise in the Seychelles: Brendon Grimshaw is our guide.
Moyenne Island, a tiny 25-acre jewel in the Seychelles archipelago, stands as a testament to the vision and determination of Brendon Grimshaw, a British newspaper editor living and working in Kenya who moved to the Seychelles and turned the once-abandoned island into a thriving ecosystem. Acquired in 1962 for £8,000, Grimshaw spent four decades rewilding and transforming the island into what is now known as the world’ s smallest national park - a conservation masterpiece largely unsung in global conservation narratives.
When Grimshaw first arrived, Moyenne was overgrown and devoid of much life, but he saw potential. Alongside his Seychellois companion, René Lafortune, Grimshaw painstakingly worked to rejuvenate the island. Together, they planted over 16,000 trees, including palms, mahogany, and fruit-bearing varieties to restore the natural flora. Their tireless efforts, including clearing overgrown scrub, reintroduced the island’s ecosystem, eventually attracting a range of wildlife, like the giant Aldabra tortoises, which now roam freely on the island.
One of the most remarkable outcomes of his work was the re-establishment of bird populations on Moyenne. Birds that had not been seen on the island for years, such as Seychelles warblers and white-tailed tropicbirds, began to return, drawn to the rich habitat Grimshaw had nurtured. He also introduced more than 120 giant tortoises, contributing to the protection of this vulnerable species.
The island has no jetty and arriving here carries a special kind of magic: nowhere else in the Seychelles can match Moyenne's sense of deserted-island discovery as you wade ashore, barefoot, through the shallows. As you reach dry land and take your first steps along the gently climbing forest trail, the trees close in behind you and you enter another world. Dappled sunlight filters down through the canopy to the forest floor, the temperature is cooler, and the island's 16,000 trees – mahogany, palm, mango, pawpaw – planted by Grimshaw and Lafortune surround you. By one estimate Moyenne has more plant species per sq m than any other national park in the world.
Every now and then, you may find your path blocked by one of Moyenne's nearly 50 free-range giant Aldabra tortoises, some of the largest turtles in the world. They're in no hurry, and nor should you be as you watch them pass. Back in the shallows and by the beaches at Pirate’s Cove, watch for hawksbill turtles that often come ashore to nest.
But Moyenne is a personal story as well, that of a man rewilding himself and opening his mind to nature's beauty. Forest bathing in eternity. He was not afraid of a solitary life and his personal 45 year journey living and transforming this island into a rewilding jewel. He speaks fondly of bringing his father to live with him after his mother died. He talks of the 5 years they had together and the friends they became before his father's passing on the island. Today they are buried side by side with two old pirates in a corner of the island.
It is remarkable that the size and shape of Moyenne is almost identical to the new woods created in the centre of LettsSafari's Dawlish Park. A place that had been abandoned to an old, barren pine forest. Today it is a thriving new wood with an incredible mix of deciduous trees, laced with wild grasses and open scrub. 10,000 new trees and 15 years later it is one of LettsSafari's genuine parardises. A dream to walk through with a host of mammals, birds and herbivores making it their new home. A smaller-scale rewilding paradise not too different to Moyenne.
Walk on the Wild Side: Through the Heart of LettsSafari's Dawlish Park
In the 2nd narrated video (above) about LettsSafari’s Dawlish Park we take a wild walk through the heart of this extraordinary place. Philip explains how the project began, the remarkable 15 year programme to get it to from an old, almost abandoned farmed pine forest with about as much biodiversity as a petrol forecourt, to today’s magnificent rewilding…
In 2009, Grimshaw’s dedication was formally recognised when Moyenne Island was declared a national park - the smallest in the world. This not only protected the island from development but also ensured that his work would be preserved for future generations. After his death in 2012, Grimshaw was buried on the island, his legacy enshrined in this extraordinary rewilding success story.
Today, Moyenne Island remains a symbol of individual effort in global conservation. It demonstrates how small-scale, private initiatives can contribute to the preservation of biodiversity and rewilding of ecosystems. Grimshaw’s unsung work reminds us that one person’s vision and perseverance can create lasting environmental change. Perhaps Moyenne is what life should be like.
Perhaps Grimshaw is the greatest rewilder of all - offering a legacy of change and renewal we might each aspire to. If no man is an island - then perhaps Grimshaw reminds us that any of our small green spaces and gardens can become our Moyenne. That should be his real legacy. And that is LettsSafari.
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